Controlling means for airplanes



Dec. 30, 1930. s. w. LYONS 1,786,663

CONTROLLING MEANS FOR AIRPLANES Filed Dec. 20. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 30, 1930. G. w. LYONS CONTROLLING MEANS FOR AIRPLANES F iled Dec 20, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 30, 1930. G. w. LYONS 1,736,668

CONTROLLING MEANS FOR AIRPLANES Filed Dec. 20, 1928 s Sheets-Sheet s Patented Dec. 3t 1936 UNITEB EEAET @FEQE CONTROLLING MEANS FOR AIRPLANES Application filed December 20, 1928. Serial No. 327,352.

means in connection therewith whereby one wing or the other shall be turned automatically on its aXis to change the angle of incidence in case the machine tips laterally on one direction or the other to thereby keep the ship on an even keel without necessitating constant control by the pilot.

A further object is to provide means whereby the aviator may change the angle of incidence of either of the wings or both of the wings at his pleasure and as necessity may require.

A still further object is to provide for tilting the elevator laterally in consonance with 4 the change of angle of the wings and thus 7 assist 1n rightmg the ship or in preventing tail spins.

Another object is to provide a mechanism whereby the machine may be steered by changing the angle of incidence of one wing tip or the other, thus doing away with the steeringrudder and control therefor.

Still another object is'to provide landing wheels so operatively connected to the wings that when the landing wheels are released by the pilot and shift to a landing position they will, when they touch the ground, automatically cause the wingsto take a braking position to thus bring the machine to astop and in this connection provide means whereby the wheels will move upward to their inoperative or flying position when the machine leaves the ground, a pilot released latch being provided for automatically holding the wheels in this inoperative position.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accentpanying drawings, wherein Fig. l is a top plan view of the flying machine constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation of one end of one of the wings and the corresponding ing tip;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section on the line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a section on the line of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a'diagrammatic elevation of one of the landing wheels and its wing controlling gear, the landing wheels being in its raised position.

Figure 7 is a like view to Fig. 6 but showing the position of the parts when the landing gear swung down to its ground engaging posit-ion;

Fig. 8 is a like view to Fig. 7 but showing the landing wheel raised to its supporting position by contact with the ground;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary section of the latch and stop 4%; V b

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the latch e8;

Fig. 11 is a perspective View of the elevator. 1

Referring to these drawings, 10 designates the hull or fuselage of the machine which has preferably the shape of a. boat, though I do not wish to be limited to this, so that the machine may alight upon the water and will float under these circumstances, the machine being provided with landing Wheels and the usual tail skid, if desired, for landing on the ground. The hull or body 10 carries the propeller l1 and suitable motor operated means will be mounted in the bow of the hull for driving the propeller. The hull, it will be seen, is deeper just rearward of the boi than it is at the stern so that, assuming that the machine has landed in the water, the upper edges of the sides of the body will be parallel to the water line, but the keel 12 will. rake upward and rearward.

The rear end of the body is tapered at 13. The body is provided with a cockpit for the pilot and a cockpit for an observer or passenger but it is to be understood that I have not attempted to illustrate the details of construction as these may be modified in many ways without departing from the spirit of the invention.

the outwardly ei-i'tending bracket or braces 16. These wings have the 1 .al shape of airplane wings from the enteri to the ed of the wing and may have suitable camber. These wings are independently rotatable with their shafts.

Extending longitudinally of the machine the middle thereof is a shaft 1'? mounted suitable bearings supported by suitable brackets. This shaft at its rear end is provided with a section 1? which extends rearward throusrh the rear end of the fuselage and constitutes the sha section upon which the elevator 19 is adapted to oscillate or rotate. Mounted upon the shaft and de pending therefrom into the pilots cockpit is a rod 20 which is fastened to the shaft 17 at its upper end and is ad iptcd to have swing;- ing motion like that of a pendulum.

Disposed below the lower end of this do pending arm or rod 20 is a transverse cable 21 (see Figure 2) which at ends is supported as will be later described, and slidingly mounted upon the arm 20 is a seat 22 carrying a pulley 23 at its lower end which rests upon and travels on the rod 21 which thus in a sense constitutes a track. As before stated, the seat 22 with its pulley 23 is free to move vertically upon the arm 20. Hence the weight of the pilot will rest upon this transverse cable and when the machine is on an even keel, the weight of the pilot w'll be distributed equally between the two ends of the transverse cable and when the pendulum rod 20 swings to the right or to the left due to the tipping of the machine a greater weight will come upon one end of the cable than upon theother.

Mounted upon each of the shafts 15 is 21 depending arm 24 which is angularly bent at its lower end as at 25 and extended rearward. This arm extends rearward more or less parallel to the keel 12 of the body and at its rear end is connected by a brace rod 26 to the upper end of arm 24.

This construction in effect constitutes an approximately rigid triangular member in, tinted on the shaft 15 and adapted to swing forward or rearward. lvfea-ns are provided, as will be described hereafter, whereby when this arm 2% swings forward, the wing- Ll will be tilted at a greater angle of incidence than when the arm 24 or 'inggs rearward. The transverse cable 21 is extended over these rearwardly extcndiiwarms 25 and at its ends to the fuselage frame at 21 and is attached thus it will be seen that when the weight of the pilot is shifted from the middle of the cable 21 toward one side, a greater weight will be exerted against one arm 25 than will be exerted against the other arm so that one arm 25 will, be depressed and this depression will cause the arm to swing forward. thus tilting the wing on that side upward. Thus if the machine tilts toward the left, all of the weight of the pilot will be brought on the left hand arm 25, swinging m and the arm 24.- forward, thus tilting the plane or wing on this side to a greater le of incidence, causing it to exert more ling power, and consequently lifting the le of the machine. As the machine rights elf, the weight on the bar 21 will be equalized and the tilted. aerofoil or wing will be returned to a position coincident with its fellow.

T have illustrated a like rod 20 and a like 22 as being supplied for the observer, he'pulley on this rear seat 22 hearing, of course, upon the transverse cable 21 at the rear end of the portion 25. This operates in precisely the same manner. It will be noted that because the arm 20 is rigidly attached to the shaft 17, as the machine tilts and as the wing on that side has its angle increased, the elevator 19 will also be tilted, thus res. ing any tendency for the tail to side slip.

is it will be seen from Figure 1, the extremities of the wings 14 are frustrated and the extremities of the wings are provided with the wing tips 2? which overlap the crtrcmities of the wings. The shaft 15 which supports each wing 14 may be tubular and have extended through it a shaft 28 which supports the wingtip 27. Each of these shafts 28 extends through the tulnilar shaft 15 and carries upon its inner end means whereby the shaft may be oscillated under the control of the pilot. Any suitable means may be used for this purpose and I have simply illustrated each shaft 28 as being provided its inner end with a crank 29, but it is to be understood that other control means for this wing; tip might be used. These wing tips 1 re designed to be used for steering purposes so that by depressing; one wing; tip, this end of the wing will be retarded and the machine wi l, therefore, turn in the direction of its retardation.

The arms 24; are loosely mounted upon their respective shafts 15 but rigidly mounted upon each shaft or upon the inner end of the wing is a sector 30 having an outwardly projecti stop 31 which will be engaged by the arm 24 as the arm swings forward, thus transmitting movement of the arm 24- to the sector 30 and thus to the corres ionding wing. The sector 30 is normally disposed with its stop 31 disposed adjacent the arm 24. This sector 30 is provided with teeth 32 and disposed below each sector 30 is a wheel 33 provided at one point with a. series qear teeth 34 adapted to mesh with the teeth 32.

This disk or wheel is mounted upon a sh it or axis 35 carrying upon it the radiall or m the machine, one disposed on each side thereof and operatively connected through the wheel 33 with the corresponding sector and thus with the corresponding wing.

The wheel 33 is formed with a relatively long arcuate slot 38 and to the forward end of the sector is pivoted the link 39. This link embraces the margin of the wheel 33 and carries upon it a pin 40 which passes through the slot 38. The'upper end of the slot 38 is formed with an inwardly extending notch ll in which this pin is adapted to rest in a certain position of the parts and below the notch 41 there is provided a cam 42 mounted uponthe fuselage in any suitable manner and acting to lift the pin from the notch ll as will be later described. p

The periphery of the wheel 33 is formed with a tooth 4:3 and coacting with this tooth is a loop-like latch 44 pivotally mounted upon the fuselage and having its free endurged inward by a spring 45. This latch is provided with a treadle 46 whereby it may be con-- trolled by the pilot and thrown out of engagement with'the wheel 33. The wheel 33 is also provided above and rearward of the tooth 43 with a tooth 4E? coacting with a looplike' latch 48 which embraces the margin of the wheel and which is capable of being forced out of its latching position by means of a pivoted treadle 49 pivoted at 50. hen this treadle is depressed by the pilot, its upper end will kick the latch 48 out of engagement with the tooth 4C7.

The operation of this portion of the ma chine is illustrated in Figures 6 to 8. Inasmuch as the operation of both landing wheels is the same, I will describe the operation of only one-of these landing wheels. In flying position, the wheel 37 is disposed upward above the keel of the fuselage as shown in Figure 6, that is, in a fully raised position.

In this position of the parts, the pin l0 is free to move within the slot 38 without in any way affecting the wheel 33 and without being retarded by the wheel 33 so that the tilting of the wing does not in any way affect the wheel 33. The wheel 33 is held in this position withthe landing wheel raised by means of the latch 48'. When the pilot is about to land, he depreses the treadle 49 which throws the latch l8 out of engagement with the tooth 47. The weight of the landing wheel, and this applies to both landing wheels, of course, now causes the landing wheel and the arm 36 to'swing from a raised position to a fu ly depressed position. This carries the teeth 3% to the position shown in Figure 7 where they will be in mesh with the teeth 32 on the sector 30. As soon as t-he landing wheels strike the ground, they will swing rearward to position intermediate the fully depressed position and the fully raised position and the wheel 33 will turn in a clockwise direction until the tooth 4.3 is engaged by the latch 44} which w1ll prevent any further rearward movement of the landing wheel.

Preferably the inner end of the latch ail.

carries within it a spring 51 which cushions the jar due to the rearward movement of the landing wheel under contact with the ground. The landing wheels are now in their landing position and in the position which they occupy in supporting the machine upon the ground.

At this time the pin 40 is disposed in engagement w1th the notch ll. The counterclockwise movement of tl e wheel 33 secured" downwzm at its rear end or in other words increase its angle of incidence; This increase in the angle of incidence, of course, causes the wing to act as brake which brings the machine to a stop without the necessity of this braking action coming upon the tail skid if a tail skid be used and this operation is secured automatically without the intervention of the pilot except as regards the latch 44.

Now when the pilot again takes off, he depresses the treadle 46, releasing the latch 4i and releasing the wheel 33. At this time the pin 40 is disposed Within the notch 41 and it will he remembered that the wing has a relatively high angle of incidence. The pilot does not depressthe treadle 416 until just as the machine leaves the ground, but soon as he depresses the treadle 46 and releases the wheel 33, the pressure of the air against the rear portion of the wing 14, which rear portion has a greater width than the forward portion of the wing, will cause the rear portion of the wing to swing upward, or in other words, the wing will turn in a counter-clock wise direction and the rod 39 engaging the notch 41 will force the wheel 33 in a clockwise direction lifting the landing wheel 37 and shifting the wheel 33 to its normal position. Just after the wheel 33 has reached this flying position with the landing wheel raised, the cam 42 will engage the pin 40 and force the pin out of the notch so that thereafter the wing is entirely free from the wing 33 and is adapted to be operated either by the pilot or automatically.

In order to permit the pilot to control the wings independently of the automatic control therefor, I provide each of the rearwardly extending members 25 with pedals 52. It is obvious, therefore, that by pressing 21. acts to force one arm 2- or the arm forward. and that thus the angle of incidence of the wing corresponding to the depressed arm is increased. In the reverse act on. it does not occur that the other wing as its angle of incidence decreased by an. tion of the corresponding arm 2%. but this angle of incidence is decreaseu the pressure of the wind acti ie under face of the rear portioi It will be seen hat wi h this construction the machine will. automatically tend. to i p on an even heel. If the pi ot w sh s to turn to the right or to the :0 he dc rear end of the wing tip that a its angle of incidence and then the machine will turn.

In turning, the centr force wil swing the rod 20 in an oppo, tic dirertion the direction in which the machine is turned causing the wing on. the side away from that toward which. the pilot is turning to increase its angle of incidence, thus li ting that side of the inachine and placing the machine automatically in position for banking. If this bank too greatthe action of gravity will counteract the centrifugal force and tend to swing the seat 22 reversely, reducing the angle of incidence. If the bank is too little the centrifugal force as before stated will tend to swing the rods 20 in a direction away from that in which the machine is being turned and this will not only tend to increase the angle of incidence of the wing on that side but will also cause the tail to tilt up laterally and thus resist any side slip of the tail.

The proportions of the wing tips 27 to the wing may, of course, be varied to any desired extent but inasmuch as the wing tips 27 are only used for steering, these wing tips may be relatively small.

It will he noted that with this construction the angle of the wings is increased at landing so as to secure a braking action and that this relatively high angle of incidence of the wings is retained at the time the machine taxiing and until it leaves the ground. Then the wings are left free to be operated. by the pilot or by the autxnnatic mechanism which I have described.

While I do not wish to be limited to this, I preferably mount the elevator 19 upon the shaft which supports the elevator in such manner that the elevator may be tilted fore and aft, that is, on an axis at right angles to the axis formed by the shaft 17 or the extension 17 of the shaft upon which the elevator is mounted and provide the elevator with the usual. horns 53 and the usual controlling cords or other controlling devices running to the control stick of the pilot whereby at the pleasure of the pilot, the elevator may be ed from a position where it is concident i in the to itudizial axis of the machine into a tail depressing or tail elevating posi ion as desired or needed. By this means, additional. control is given to the pilot who can assist in preventing any tail spins by angling the elevator 19 when it is partially turned angled by the oscillation of the shaft 17.

It will be noted that the elevator is cut away at 19 so as to fit upon the conical rear end of the fuselage. This permits the elev itor to be turned into a vertical position after the machine has landed as for instance, upon water and under these circumstances,

may be used as a rudder, it beu j necessai y, of course, under these circumstances to disconnect the elevator from the shaft 1? or disconnect this shaft 17 from the rods 2) w ch are held in engagement with is shaft by screws passing through the collars 2O or any other suitable arrangement of this character. Of course, under the same circumstances, it will be necessary to disconnecr the controls from the control stick. he controls can be used as rudder lines for the purpose of shifting the elevator as a rudder is shifted.

I do not wish to be limited to any particular means for this purpose as it is obvious that many different devices could be used for controlling the elevator when in a vertical position as a rudder.

Vhile I have illustrated a cable 21 as being disposed over the arms 25 for supporting the roller 23, I do not wish to be limited to this as a bar mi ght be used in place of the cable 21, this bar being connected to the arms 25 and supporting the roller 23 so that as the roller is shifted in one direction or the other more or less weight will be broughton one or the other of the arms. Neither do I wish to be limited to the details of construction as illustrated as these may be varied in many ways without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim 1. An airplane having a fuselage and oppositely disposed Wings, each tiltable about the transverse axis to thereby change their greasesverse member and causing the depression of one end or the other thereof as the element swings relative to the fuselage to thereby increase the angle of incidence of one wing or the other.

2. An airplane having a fuselage and oppositely disposed wings, each tiltable about a transversely extending axis, arms operatively connected to the wings and each arm when moved forward increasing the angle of incidence of the corresponding wing, a connecting member between said arms, a pendulous rod mounted upon the fuselage, a weighted element carried loosely by said rod and having a wheel bearing against said transverse member whereby as said pendulous element swings relative to the fuselage, weight will be shifted toward one or the other of said arms to thus depress one of the arms and cause a change in the angle of incidence of the corresponding wing.

3. An airplane having a fuselage and oppositely disposed wings, each wing being independently tiltable about a transverse axis, a horizontally disposed elevator mounted upon the rear end of the fuselage, a longitudinally extending shaft upon which the elevator is mounted, a rod fast to but depending from said shaft a weight supporting seat slidin 'l mounted uuon the rod but swin in a; l n z:

therewith, a wheel carried by the seat, levers operatively connected to the wings, the levers when shifted forward increasing the angle of incidence of the wings, and a member connecting the wings and upon which said wheel bears as and for the purpose stated.

i. An airplane having a fuselage and oppositely disposed wings tiltable about a transverse axis to change their angles of incidence, independent longitudinally swinging landing wheels one for each wing mounted upon the fuselage, and means controlled by each landing wheel and connected to the corresponding wing causing a change in the angle of incidence of this wing on contact of the landing wheels with the ground.

5. An airplane having a fuselage and oppositely disposed wings tiltable around a transverse axis to change their angles of incidence, landing wheels mounted upon the fuselage for longitudinal swinging movement, pilot releasable means for holding said landing wheels in a raised and inoperative position, said means when released permit ting the landing wheels to swing to a depending position beneath the fuselage, and operative connections between the landing wheelg and said wings increasing the angle of incidence of said wings when the landing wheels strike the ground and are swung rearward, and-pilot releasable means preventing the wheels from swinging rearward beyond a predetermined point and holding them at this point until released.

position, and means operatively engaging the sector and engaged with the landing wheels whereby to causethe sector and wing to tilt to, a greater angle of incidence when the'l'andwheels strike the ground and swing rear '.rd. and pilot releasable means limiting rearward movement of the landing wheels. p 4

7. An airplane having a fuselage, a wing I tably mounted upon the fuselage for oscil- The wing extends forward from the axis, landing wheels ,swingingly mounted pilot releasable means for holding the'landing wheels raised and in an inoperative pztion, but when released permitting the la ing wheels to swing downward in a position to meet the ground, means actuated by the rearward movement of the landing wheels when in contact with the ground for tilting the wing to increase its angle of lncidence,

pilot releasable means limiting therearward (movement of the landing wheels, said means when released permitting the lifting of the landing wheels to an inoperative position by pressure against the under face of the wing at the rear of the axis thereof.

disposed wings tiltably mounted upon the fuselage for oscillation around an axis extending transversely of the fuselage and disposed nearer to the front edge of the wings than the rear thereof, sectors attached to said wings and having interrupted teeth and having a projecting stop, arms mounted for oscillation at one end around the axis of the wings and having rearward extensions, the stops on the sectors being adapted to engage said arms, gravity and centrifugally actuated means automatically causing the forward movement of one arm or the other as the fuselage is tilted to one side or the other, pilot actuated means I for shifting one or the other of the arms for ward against said stops to thereby tilt the corresponding wings to increase their angles of incidence, a wheel associated with each sector and having a short series of gear teeth thereon, each wheel having a circumferentially extending slot formed with a notch in its upper end, a link pivoted to the forward end of each sector and having a pin engage- 9 An airplane having a fuselage, laterally 9 upon the fuselage for rearward movement,

able in said notch, a cam fixed with relation to the corresponding wheel adapted to throw said pin from the notch as the wheel moves in a counter-clockwise direction, arms extending radially from the axis of the wheels and carrying landing wheels, pilot releasable means for holding the first named wheels with the landing wheels raised in an inoperative position but when released permitting said land 10 ing wheels to swing downward and forward in a osition where they can strike the ground and swung rearward, and pilot releasable means for limiting the'rearward movement of the landing wheels and cushioning the 5 same, said means when released permitting the wind pressure against the under faces of the-rear portions of the wings to cause the lifting of the landing wheels to an inoperative position. go 9. In an airplane having ;a fuselage and oppositely disposed wings, the wings being mounted upon the fuselage for tilting move merit-around an axis transverse to the fuselage whereby to increase or c ecrease the angle of incidence of the wings, gravity and centrifugally afi'ected means for shifting one or the other of said wings to increase its angle of incidence operating automatically as the I fuselage is tilted to one side or the other, 80 means whereby the pilot may controllably shiftthe wings to increase or decrease their angles of incidence, landing wheels mounted Z on and for longitudinal movement with rela- W tion to the fuselage, pilot releasable means 85 normally holding said landing wheels raised but when released permittin the landing wheels to move forward and downward to a ground engaging position, means limiting the rearward and upward movement of; the land- 40 ing wheels upon contact with the ground and locking the landing wheels in landing position, and means actuated by the rearward movement of the landing wheels acting to automatically tilt the wings to an increased angle of incidence to thereby cause the wings to act as a brake.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aihx my signature.

" GEORGE WAYNE LYONS.

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